<div> <div>The junta’s draft charter referendum faced an epic struggle over the past weekend as the voter lists across the country were spoiled by kids, monkeys and rain. </div></div>

<p>The Thai police have arrested a northerner suspected of sending thousands of anti-draft charter letters after the military detained his parents.</p> <p>Police officers from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Saturday afternoon, 23 July 2016, arrested Wisarut Khunnitisan, 38, from a condominium in Bangkok and flew him to the northern province of Chiang Mai.</p>

<div> <div>A red-shirt TV station faces a month-long blackout imposed for allegedly disseminating content threatening national security. A red-shirt leader says this is the junta’s attempt to silence criticism of the draft charter.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Thursday, 21 July 2016, the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) temporarily revoked the broadcasting license of Peace TV, a TV station run by leaders of the red shirts, claiming that the station disseminated content threatening national security. </div></div>

<div> <div>A prominent activist’s mother has been indicted for sending an alleged lèse-majesté message via Facebook private chat despite an earlier police decision not to file charges.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Friday, 22 July 2016, the military prosecutor decided to indict Patnaree Chankij, mother of the well-known anti-junta activist Sirawit Serithiwat, for breaching Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse-majesté law, and the Computer Crimes Act, although the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police previously decided not to press charges against her.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div>

<div> <div> <div>The authorities in the northern Thailand have summoned five villagers for five days of lectures after an image of them wearing t-shirts campaigning for ‘vote no’ in the August referendum was shared on social media.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Thursday, 21 July 2016, soldiers, police officers, and local administration officials summoned five villagers of Ban Hat Pha Khan, Long District, Phrae Province in northern Thailand, for an hour-long lecture session each day for five days without filing charges. </div></div></div>

<div> <div>The Civil Court has ruled to shut down an Islamic school in Thailand’s restive Deep South, alleging that it supported Muslim Malay insurgents, although the Criminal Court previously found the school executives not guilty.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Thursday, 21 July 2016, the Bangkok Civil Court made a decision to confiscate the land owned by Islam Burapha School, a pondok school in Narathiwat Province, in Thailand’s Deep South, reasoning that the school gave support to the separatist movement, BBC Thai <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/a.1527194487501586.1073741828</p> </a></div></div>

<p>After the deputy junta head promised to organise nationwide debates on the controversial draft charter, a well-known anti-junta activist group challenged the junta-appointed constitution drafters to a debate.</p> <p>At 12:30 pm on Thursday, 21 July 2016, Chanoknan Ruamsap, key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM), an anti-junta activist group, and other NDM members submitted an invitation letter to Amorn Wanichwiwatana, spokesperson of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC).</p>

<p dir="ltr">A newspaper known for its staunch royalist stance announced Thursday it has resigned from a national media association for its failure to enforce ethics and impartiality.</p> <p dir="ltr">In an online statement, the editorial board of <a href="http://www.naewna.com/index.php">Naewna</a> said the National Press Council, comprised of editors from different print media organizations, turns a blind eye to media agencies that take political sides and disregards ethics, though it did not name any specific incidents.</p>

<p>The Thai authorities have searched the homes of leading anti-establishment red shirt figures in northern Thailand in the hunt for the persons who sent letters criticising the junta-sponsored draft charter.</p>

<p>After being forced into taking a so-called ‘attitude adjustment session’ by the military, 19 red shirts accused of breaking the junta’s ban on political gatherings were forced to sign an agreement promising to steer clear of all political activities. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The Thai authorities have accused three villagers in Chaiyaphum Province in Isaan, northeastern Thailand, of trespassing in a National Park.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai authorities threatened to sue a human rights institute of one of Thailand’s leading universities over infographics about the public referendum on the draft charter.</p>